The typ\u00adi\u00adcal stu\u00addent trav\u00adel\u00ading on a Eurail pass will stop in such lands as \u00d6ster\u00adre\u00adich, Italia, \u010cesko and\u00a0Schweiz \u2014 also known as Suisse, Svizzera, and Svizra. If that stu\u00addent hap\u00adpens to hail from the Eng\u00adlish-speak\u00ading world, the names Aus\u00adtria, Italy, the Czech Repub\u00adlic (the recent move\u00adment\u00a0for Czechia notwith\u00adstand\u00ading), and Switzer\u00adland will sound more famil\u00adiar. But the ques\u00adtion inevitably comes to mind while\u00a0rid\u00ading between one\u00a0his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly and cul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adly rich cap\u00adi\u00adtal to anoth\u00ader: where did all these coun\u00adtries get their names in Eng\u00adlish? How on Earth, for exam\u00adple, did Deutsch\u00adland, known in cer\u00adtain oth\u00ader Euro\u00adpean lan\u00adguages as\u00a0Alle\u00admagne, Ale\u00adma\u00adnia, or Ale\u00adman\u00adha,\u00a0get to be called Ger\u00admany?<\/p>\n
Lan\u00adguage YouTu\u00adber Rob\u00adWords has an expla\u00adna\u00adtion. \u201cTo the Romans, it was the land of the Ger\u00admani, their name for the weird peo\u00adple speak\u00ading gib\u00adber\u00adish lan\u00adguages to the east of the Riv\u00ader Rhine,\u201d he says in the video above<\/a>, stand\u00ading in a for\u00adest con\u00adve\u00adnient\u00adly locat\u00aded in Ger\u00admany itself.<\/p>\n They \u201calso used the word\u00a0ale\u00adman\u00adni\u00a0to describe a con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of Ger\u00adman\u00adic peo\u00adple, and that\u2019s where a load of oth\u00ader lan\u00adguages get their word for Ger\u00admany too.\u201d And the mean\u00ading of Deutsch\u00adland? \u201cLand of the Dutch,\u201d that last actu\u00adal\u00adly being the descen\u00addant of an old Ger\u00adman\u00adic word mean\u00ading \u2018pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u2019 or \u2018peo\u00adple\u2019\u00a0\u201d \u2014 which, before that time, referred not sim\u00adply to human beings, but the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion who spoke the region\u2019s wide\u00adly under\u00adstood \u201cpop\u00adu\u00adlar lan\u00adguages.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Behind most every Euro\u00adpean coun\u00adtry\u2019s Eng\u00adlish name lies a sto\u00adry, if some\u00adtimes an ambigu\u00adous, con\u00adtest\u00aded, and con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsial one. Most are also his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly illu\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading: take Bel\u00adgium, once con\u00adsid\u00adered part of the Nether\u00adlands (home of the peo\u00adple we now call Dutch), whose name derives from a tribe, or con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of tribes, known in Latin as the Bel\u00adgae: a word \u201cadopt\u00aded by peo\u00adple liv\u00ading in the south\u00adern Low Coun\u00adtries dur\u00ading the region\u2019s strug\u00adgle for inde\u00adpen\u00addence from Spain in the six\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry.\u201d Rob\u00adWords has more such sur\u00adpris\u00ading facts to reveal in the video just above<\/a>, in which he breaks down the names of all the coun\u00adtries in the Unit\u00aded King\u00addom, cov\u00ader\u00ading Ire\u00adland, Scot\u00adland, Wales, his native Eng\u00adland, and also the word Britain itself, as well as the Great often attached to it. The lat\u00adter isn\u2019t a boast, he stress\u00ades, but rather a means of dis\u00adtin\u00adguish\u00ading the island from part of France. As for which part, you\u2019ll have to watch to find out.<\/p>\n Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n A Map Shows What Every Coun\u00adtry in the World Calls Itself in its Own Lan\u00adguage: Explore the \u201cEndonyms of the World\u201d Map<\/a><\/p>\n The Sur\u00adpris\u00ading Pat\u00adtern Behind the Names of Col\u00adors Around the World<\/a><\/p>\n A Map of How the Word \u201cTea\u201d Spread Across the World<\/a><\/p>\n Wel\u00adcome to Llan\u00adfair\u00adp\u00adwll\u00adgwyn\u00adgyll\u00adgogerych\u00adwyrn\u00addrob\u00adwl\u00adl\u00adl\u00adlan\u00adtysil\u00adi\u00ado\u00adgogogoc, the Town with the Longest Name in Europe<\/a><\/p>\n The His\u00adto\u00adry of Europe from 400 BC to the Present, Ani\u00admat\u00aded in 12 Min\u00adutes<\/a><\/p>\n The Entire His\u00adto\u00adry of Eng\u00adlish in 22 Min\u00adutes<\/a><\/p>\n Based in Seoul,\u00a0Col\u00adin<\/a>\u00a0M<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>\u00a0writes and broad\u00adcasts on cities, lan\u00adguage, and cul\u00adture. He\u2019s the author of the newslet\u00adter\u00a0Books on Cities<\/a>\u00a0as well as the books\u00a0\ud55c\uad6d \uc694\uc57d \uae08\uc9c0<\/a>\u00a0(No Sum\u00adma\u00adriz\u00ading Korea) and\u00a0Kore\u00adan Newtro<\/a>.\u00a0Fol\u00adlow him on the social net\u00adwork for\u00admer\u00adly known as Twit\u00adter at\u00a0@colinm<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t